После душа я протёр зеркало в ванной.

Because после requires the genitive case.

• Dictionary form: душ = shower
• Genitive singular: душа

So:

• после душа = after the shower / after showering

This is a very common pattern:

• после работы = after work
• после обеда = after lunch
• после фильма = after the film

Also, Russian has no articles, so после душа can mean either after a shower or after the shower, depending on context.

No. Here душа is just the genitive singular of душ.

This can confuse learners because:

• душ = shower
• душа = soul

But these are different words.

In this sentence:

• после душа = after the shower

not

• after the soul

The context makes it completely clear.

Протёр is the past tense masculine singular form of протереть.

Here is the breakdown:

• протереть = to wipe, rub, wipe off
• протёр = he/I wiped
• протёрла = she wiped
• протёрло = it wiped
• протёрли = they/we wiped

Because the subject is я, the past tense still agrees with the speaker’s gender:

• a male speaker says я протёр
• a female speaker would say я протёрла

In this sentence, протёр suggests a completed action: the speaker wiped the mirror, and the action is done.

Russian uses aspect to show whether an action is seen as complete or ongoing/repeated.

• протирать / протирать? The common imperfective partner is протирать
• протереть = perfective
• протирать = imperfective

So:

• я протёр зеркало = I wiped the mirror / I gave it a wipe, completed
• я протирал зеркало = I was wiping the mirror / I used to wipe the mirror / I wiped it for some time

In your sentence, the speaker is referring to a single finished action, so the perfective протёр is natural.

Because зеркало is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. But for inanimate neuter nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

• Nominative: зеркало = mirror
• Accusative: зеркало = mirror

So:

• я протёр зеркало = I wiped the mirror

If the noun were a different gender or type, the accusative might look different. But here it happens to stay the same.

Because в ванной expresses location, not motion.

Russian often uses:

• в + prepositional for where
• в + accusative for where to

So:

• в ванной = in the bathroom
• в ванную = into the bathroom

Compare:

• Я был в ванной. = I was in the bathroom.
• Я пошёл в ванную. = I went into the bathroom.

In your sentence, the mirror is located there, so в ванной is correct.

Because it is the prepositional singular form of ванная.

Here, ванная is being used as a noun meaning bathroom (short for ванная комната).

Forms:

• ванная = bathroom
• в ванной = in the bathroom

Historically, ванная is an adjective-like word, so its case endings follow adjective patterns. That is why you get -ой here.

You may also hear the fuller version:

• в ванной комнате = in the bathroom

But in everyday Russian, в ванной is very common.

Usually here it means in the bathroom.

That is because ванная can mean:

• bathroom
• sometimes bathtub/bath in certain contexts

But in the sentence зеркало в ванной, the natural interpretation is the mirror in the bathroom, since mirrors are typically in bathrooms.

So learners should understand it as:

• зеркало в ванной = the mirror in the bathroom

not

• the mirror in the bathtub

Yes, Russian often omits subject pronouns when the meaning is clear from the verb form or context.

So both are possible:

• После душа я протёр зеркало в ванной.
• После душа протёр зеркало в ванной.

The version with я is still perfectly natural. It can make the subject a bit more explicit or simply sound more complete, depending on context.

Russian does not require the subject pronoun as often as English does.

No, Russian word order is relatively flexible.

Your sentence is:

• После душа я протёр зеркало в ванной.

This is a very natural order. It starts with the time phrase После душа and then gives the main action.

Other orders are possible, for example:

• Я протёр зеркало в ванной после душа.
• Зеркало в ванной я протёр после душа.

These versions are not identical in nuance. Changing the order changes focus, emphasis, or what sounds like old vs. new information.

The original sentence sounds neutral and natural if you are setting the scene first: After taking a shower, I wiped the mirror in the bathroom.

In practice, it is most naturally understood as describing зеркало:

• зеркало в ванной = the mirror in the bathroom

So the sentence normally means:

• After showering, I wiped the mirror in the bathroom.

Grammatically, Russian sometimes allows a little ambiguity with prepositional phrases, just as English does. But in normal real-world context, listeners will almost certainly understand that it is the bathroom mirror.

If you wanted to make the location of the action more explicit, context or a different wording could help.

Yes, ё is important here.

• протёр is pronounced with yo: roughly pra-TYOR
• In many Russian texts, ё is written as е, so you may also see протер

But the correct pronunciation is still протёр, not протер with unstressed e.

For learners, it is helpful to remember that:

• ё is always stressed
• native texts often omit the dots, but the pronunciation does not change

So if you see протер in a text, it often still means протёр.

Yes, that would also be natural.

Both verbs can mean wiped, but there is a slight difference in feel:

• вытереть / вытер often emphasizes wiping something dry or cleaning it off
• протереть / протёр often emphasizes wiping something over, giving it a wipe, rubbing the surface clean

In many everyday contexts, the difference is small, and both could work for a fogged bathroom mirror.

So:

• я протёр зеркало = I wiped the mirror
• я вытер зеркало = I wiped the mirror / wiped it dry

Both are good Russian, but протёр sounds very natural for wiping a mirror after a shower.